The Woodhall Spa ace was originally asked by his team to stand in for the injured Glen Richards who broke his leg at Knockhill in round six of the British Superbike series, but now that Josh Brookes is sidelined after a crash at Mallory Park in which he injured his hand, the team have revised their plans.

HM Plant Honda have drafted in ex-World Supersport champion Karl Muggeridge to take over the reins of one of the two Superbikes at Brands Hatch with Steve Brogan riding the other bike. For the team’s home round at Cadwell Park at the end of the month, Muggeridge will be joined by road race specialist John McGuinness which frees up Steve Plater to concentrate on his Supersport campaign.

“I was asked to stand in for Glen at Brands Hatch and Cadwell but after a lot of careful thought I decided against it,” said the ever-smiling Lincolnshire rider.

“I am leading the British Supersport championship and it’s my aim to take the title this year. But they are all lining up behind me and I need to concentrate all my efforts on my own championship to give myself the best chance of lifting the trophy.

“There are three Superbike races at Brands Hatch, one on Saturday and a further two on Sunday. It’s not the races that will take my concentration but the free practice and qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday. I don’t want to be distracted from the Supersport class by having to jump from one bike to another in order to gain a decent grid position in each class so it was agreed that I should step down from the Superbike.”

This season is proving to be one of Plater’s best. He picked up some top results at the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT and to win the British Supersport championship would be the icing on the cake for him.

Earlier in his racing career Plater was twice runner up in the British Supersport championship and he aims to go one better this season and take the title.

Free practice for the British Supersport class is on Friday with two qualifying sessions on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s 18-lap race at 3.15pm.